Vietnam

Vietnam’s a country that’s been repeatedly rocked by outside invasion: The Vietnam War (called the American War here) is only the most notorious of a relentless reel of international conflicts stretching back to the ancient Chinese and Mongol invasions. Though there’s a whole lot of tragedy woven into Vietnam’s story—remarkably—the country is as culturally vibrant, arrestingly beautiful, and downright welcoming as any on the globe.

Traveling in Vietnam evokes a great spectrum of experiences, from the chaotic streets and thrumming markets of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh to the rice fields of the Red River and Mekong deltas. Some of the most rewarding journeys here surrender to the passions of the taste buds and the stomach: Vietnamese cuisine, which includes strong strains of Chinese (dumplings, mooncakes, etc.) and French cookery (pastries, baguettes, etc.) as well as influences from other parts of Southeast Asia, is as complex and delicious as they come.

Vietnam’s history has many chapters, even if many foreigners associate it only with the 20-year Vietnam War. Some of the country’s great historical sites are associated with the Champa Kingdom, which prevailed for many centuries along the central and southern Vietnamese coast before being folded into the Nguyen Dynasty. The jungle-swamped temple ruins of My Son and the spice-trade port of Hoi An (rich in Chinese and Japanese architectural influence)—both UNESCO World Heritage Sites—are only the best-known Cham locales. Other fascinating heritage destinations include Hue, the longtime imperial capital of the Nguyen Dynasty, and the Confucian Temple of Literature in Hanoi. And certainly there are sobering reminders of the devastating American War to pay tribute to, not least the Cu Chi Tunnels of the Viet Cong—a terrifying subterranean battleground during the war, now a major tourist attraction.

Vietnam’s cities are some of the liveliest in Southeast Asia, but the countryside simply must be experienced: There’s breathtaking, almost dreamlike tropical scenery nearly everywhere, from the rugged mountains of the north—home to many of Vietnam’s indigenous tribes—to the mangrove jungle of the Ca Mau Peninsula, on the seam between the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea. Treasured landscapes (and seascapes) include the Gulf of Tonkin’s Ha Long Bay, spiked with limestone islets, and the astonishing caves of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park.

Long occupied by foreign powers such as the Chinese and the French, wrenched apart as one of the most notorious of Cold War battlefields, Vietnam is also a place charged with cultural energy and natural splendor. You can and should acknowledge the bloodshed of the past, but your experience here won’t be defined by such trauma: Instead, it’ll be the friendliness of the Vietnamese people, the delectability of the food, the interweave of centuries of history, and the inherent majesty of the landscape that’ll capture you—again and again.